Bottling sucks!

[gunner65]

I enjoy bottling.....Remember the dishwasher door is your best friend.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Bottling sucks and takes forever....

 

[seabrew8]

I bottled at least 50 batches when i was a teenager. It was a major issue when i got back into this hobby. I'm very happy i found a few good books and this website and jumped right into kegging.

I have 4 more corny kegs coming!

Expensive but i'm sure i won't regret it. I love putting up homebrew and now the bottling hassle won't slow me down!

 

[peachwein]

i actually kind of enjoy bottling... As long as bottles have been double rinsed after they are poured you dont have to do any real scrubbing before sanitizing.

 

[Babylon]

I can't believe people actually use 12oz girl bottles.

They're nice to have around if you are going to be giving bottles away.

 

[uechikid]

I can't believe people actually use oz girl bottles.

And they only cost 10 cents each (CRV).

 

[adx]

I enjoy bottling after two upgrades from Revvy's thread:

1. Use a short piece of tubing to connect the bottling wand to the bucket.
2. Get a 1/2" PVC elbow and use it as a dip tube on the bottling bucket.

 

[gunner65]

I enjoy bottling after two upgrades from Revvy's thread:

1. Use a short piece of tubing to connect the bottling wand to the bucket.
2. Get a 1/2" PVC elbow and use it as a dip tube on the bottling bucket.

YES! Thank you Rev! No tilting the bucket.

 

[mparmer]

Bottled up 2 batches the other night, took me almost 3 hours starting with sanitation of bottling bucket and bottles to clean up. I agree it's some work. But, the reward about a month from now when I and my friends crack those babies open.... ahhh, delicious beer. Well, yeah, I'll probably invest in a kegging setup someday, maybe not too far down the road, but I'll always bottle too. It's tradition, handy, and just another step in making good beer.

 

[jaynik]

Pros and cons. If you always drink beer at home, I think kegging is a great idea. I just hate the idea of losing my beer fridge that holds the huge variety of bottles. I can't decide, so I'm still bottling!

 

[JOHN51277]

Bottling does indeed suck! I just switched to kegging a few batches ago and will never go back. I do bottle some of it from the keg with my homemade beergun though when people ask for some samples, or I want to take some to a lil party!

 

[EricT]

I will eventually start kegging as well but for now I like to use 22oz bottles as well as champagne bottles to cut down the time. I still bottle 12oz for taste testing as the weeks go by and giving to friends.

 

[DaveAllen]

While a kegging setup is in my future plans, I will always bottle as well. I enjoy it as much as any other part of the hobby. If I got in to homebrewing because I want to be lazy and whine about doing the work, it would be far easier to just go buy a sixer at the grocery store. It's part of the process I enjoy.

 

[StAnthonyB]

I take it you don't enter your beer into any competitions?

No. No, I don't enter them. I'm going like 15 years strong. I gotta' good streak going.

 

[GLWIII]

I've since moved to kegging, but from time to time I do bottle. Two things I do that speed up my process are: 1) use swing tops exclusively - I love these things!, 2) when I drink a bottle I always rinse it once I pour it - no hassle of scrubbing when bottling day does arrive. On bottling day the rest of my process is dialed in for a short and sweet bottling session.

 

[Brewenstein]

I don't mind the bottling, but for me the worst part is siphoning your beer into the bucket after dry hopping .

 

[Bacchus]

I've since moved to kegging, but from time to time I do bottle. Two things I do that speed up my process are: 1) use swing tops exclusively - I love these things!, 2) when I drink a bottle I always rinse it once I pour it - no hassle of scrubbing when bottling day does arrive. On bottling day the rest of my process is dialed in for a short and sweet bottling session.

I too use the swing top bottles and I agree 100% with cleaning the bottles as used. It makes sanitizing so much easier on bottling day. I take the same approach with my fermentation buckets. I get those cleaned immaculately as soon as they're emptied. I then dry them, close the spigots and put the lids back on them. On brew day, they're easy as hell to sanitize.

 

[Teromous]

While a kegging setup is in my future plans, I will always bottle as well. I enjoy it as much as any other part of the hobby. If I got in to homebrewing because I want to be lazy and whine about doing the work, it would be far easier to just go buy a sixer at the grocery store. It's part of the process I enjoy.

Haha I was thinking the same thing today. Part of me was saying "why don't you just buy the beer?" ...but it's part of the fun. Bottling is a lot like putting up a Christmas tree. It can be a lot of work, leaves a mess, and the wife takes bets on how long before I break something...but in the end it's worth the effort.

That's what I tell myself until I start kegging anyway

 

[Ragutis]

I really don't mind bottling. I keg five gallons and bottle the rest. It's fun to have the same beer in different packages.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Another option to bottling or kegging is going with poly-pins. Perfect for cask style beers.

Been serving it on my engine. (Aka beer hand pump) No need for CO2 or expensive hardware.

My chilling method for gallon pins (~12-pak) using dry ice packs